NCJ Number
118873
Journal
Justice System Journal Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Dated: (1988-89) Pages: 220-239
Date Published
1989
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article discusses some of the general issues involved in the notification of interested parties of their right to file claims against alleged defendants and reports on a pair of surveys that provide some insight into how a large-scale public notification campaign worked in the Dalkon Shield litigation.
Abstract
Using data from surveys conducted by the Gallup Organization before and after the notification campaign ordered by the court handling the bankruptcy of A.H. Robins (the manufacturer of the Dalkon Shield), this article examines the impact of the campaign on public awareness of hazards associated with the birth control device. Evidence from the surveys suggests that the notification campaign activated a largely pre-existing awareness of the alleged hazards of the shield rather than educated the public concerning the existence of these hazards. These findings raise questions about how a public notification campaign modeled after that used in this case might work if the level of public awareness of the issue was very low at the time the campaign was conducted. The article suggests that where there exists a low level of public awareness of the issues under litigation, some sort of direct-contact campaign may be necessary (e.g., individual notices mailed either to every household in an area or to some targeted group of households). 34 footnotes, 36 references.